


Bravely Forward

by chenah3h3



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Coming of Age, F/F, Family Drama, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Multi, Other, Teen Angst, Teen Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-04
Updated: 2020-10-05
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:27:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25064635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chenah3h3/pseuds/chenah3h3
Summary: This is a retelling of the story of FFX starring characters from She-Ra.On the tenth anniversary of her stepmother's disappearance, Adora's life takes a drastic turn when a monster known as Sin wreaks havoc on her hometown of Zanarkand. With nowhere else to go, she follows her mentor, Micah, into the creature's core. Suddenly, Adora finds herself alone in a strange, new world. With the help of a High Summoner and her guardians, Adora ventures to discover the truth behind Sin, Spira, and herself.
Relationships: Adora & Bow & Glimmer (She-Ra), Adora & Micah (She-Ra), Adora & Shadow Weaver | Light Spinner (She-Ra), Adora/Glimmer (She-Ra), Bow & Glimmer (She-Ra), Glimmer & Micah (She-Ra), Mermista/Sea Hawk (She-Ra), Micah & Shadow Weaver | Light Spinner (She-Ra), Netossa/Spinnerella (She-Ra)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 3





	1. Prologue

The sun sets. The air is still. A small fire cracks softly. The High Summoner and her guardians sit in silence. They rest among the ruins of the city that holds the world's salvation. In time, the High Summoner will fulfill her destiny and bring forth the Calm once more. So it has been for more than a thousand years.

They all avert their eyes from one another. Some gaze into the flame, others at the ground or their hands. One wouldn't be remiss for believing their quietness to be an act of pious respect. For some, that is the case. For others, their reticence is a begrudging acceptance of the inevitable.

For her, this moment means more than just the end of their pilgrimage. More than their final battle against Sin. In spite of everything, she remains determined to reconcile the past and reclaim her fate. She gets up from her seat and rests a hand on the High Summoner's shoulder. As a guardian, she swore to protect her from all forms of danger. Now, as they reach the hour of the Final Summoning, she wonders if she can save her from an endless cycle.

The High Summoner glances briefly at her guardian's hand before returning to look at the fire. The guardian walks past her and climbs to the top of a nearby hill. Here, she takes in the landscape of the ruins. With every thought that runs through her mind as she considers the events to come, she settles on one:

This is it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a lot of fun writing this prologue! For anyone familiar with the plot of FFX, there will be minor changes to certain characters and their relationships. I plan on sticking pretty close to the source material, but there are some ideas I'd like to play around with, too. 
> 
> This is my first fanfic, and I'm really looking forward to writing more soon. Not sure how long I'm going to be working on this. I'll see, I suppose.


	2. A Fateful Game

Adora took a deep breath. It was early in the evening, and she could sense the excitement from the crowd gathering in front of her house. She smiled – their support helped take the pressure off on nights like these.

As soon as Adora walked out the door, she was greeted with intense fervor from her fans. As if to match their energy, Adora sprinted down the walkway, ready to mingle.

The first person to approach her was a familiar face. A young woman with short, blue hair wearing a white shift dress with a yellow stripe down the middle. Ever since her first game with the Abes, Adora would see this girl outside her house before matches. She would normally stay behind as other fans gathered around her. Given the importance of tonight's game, however, it seems the woman decided to take the initiative to speak to her.

Timidly, the woman began, “I-I've been a b-big fan of yours. From the very beginning!”

Adora gave her a knowing smile. She understood what this match meant for her supporters. Her smile turned into a confident grin as she replied, “I won't let you down.”

Her affirmation was returned with a soft chuckle from the woman.

While Adora began walking in a different direction, another fan called out to her, “Hey, how are you feeling?”

Adora stopped briefly to give the man a wink and a thumbs up as she declared, “Great as ever! Thanks!”

The man nodded his head and hollered, “Yeah! We're cheering for ya!”

Adora turned and spotted a small winged child in a purple vest and worn pants standing in front of her. Their face was covered by the hood of their vest. It didn't seem as though the child was here with anyone else. Adora crouched down to meet their eyes. Before she could get a word in, the child asserted in a cryptic tone, “ _The game tonight...it's very important._ ”

Adora's brows furrowed as the enigmatic aura of this child and the fatalism of their words left a strange feeling in her stomach. What Adora found curious is that deep down, a part of her felt as though she deciphered the message behind the child's statement and accepted it.

In an effort to get back into a more cheerful spirit, Adora stood up and walked towards another fan. She immediately regretted this decision as the girl asked, “Are you gonna show us that shot tonight?”

She expected to have this question thrown at her several times tonight. Nevertheless, the subject soured Adora's mood. To save face, Adora feigned reflection before answering, “Uh...I don't know, maybe.”

Without missing a beat, the zealous fan exclaimed, “You should do it. For us!”

Adora managed to kindly step away from the girl, relieved that she didn't push the question further. A pair of young ladies, each holding a blitzball, then stepped up to her. The girl on her left held out her ball first and asked, “Can I have your autograph?”

“Of course!” Adora took out her pen and quickly signed the ball.

While returning the signed blitzball to its owner, the girl on Adora's right piped up, “Good luck tonight!” as she presented her blitzball.

Adora flashed a coy smirk as she signed her ball. She decided to impress the pair by spinning the girl's blitzball on one finger before smoothly saying, “Nothing to worry about!” She swore she could see a tiny hint of a blush on their faces. Just then, Adora had a great idea. Looking at the both of them, Adora proposed, “Oh, if I score a goal, I'll uh...do this!”. Adora paused to raise her hands in front of her, making two finger guns pointed towards the sky. She made sure to lower her voice so only the two could hear her as she went on, “That'll mean it was for you, ok?”

Simultaneously, the girls squealed with joy. When Adora asked them where they would be seated, the girl on her right could barely contain her delight as she yelled, “East block in the front row!” Her friend heartily added, “Fifth from the right!”

Satisfied with herself, Adora made her way to a trio of children anxiously presenting their blitzballs to her. The first child politely inquired, “Can you sign this?”

“No prob!” Adora replied.

After returning the ball to the first child, the second child swiftly handed their ball over while shouting, “Please!”

“Alrighty,” she asserted while steadying her hand to pen another signature.

The third child did not wait for Adora to finish signing the ball to proclaim, “Me too!”

Finding the child's impatience endearing, Adora laughed before pleading, “Take it easy!”

* * *

Adora decided that was enough socializing for now. This was fun, but she couldn't afford to be late to this game. She panned her eyes across the crowd one last time and said, “Well, gotta go. Cheer for me!”

From behind her, Adora could hear one of the kids blurt out, “2, 3!” Then, in unison, all three kids yelled, “TEACH US HOW TO BLITZ!”

The request caught Adora by surprise. “Hey, I got a game to play!” she whined.

The children did not let up. The second one insisted, “Teach us after!”

Adora stopped to think about her plans after the game. Quietly, she conceded, “Maybe tonight..um, well..” Right when Adora was going to affirm her answer, the voice of the mysterious child from earlier interrupted her thoughts. _You can't tonight_. Adora wasn't sure why, but she took those words to heart and clarified to the kids, “I mean...tomorrow.”

As if they could sense the doubt in her voice, the third child pleaded, “Promise?”

Adora smiled down at them and nodded her head. “Promise!”

For a moment, Adora wondered if the children were disappointed in her response. If that was the case, they were gracious about it as they performed the sign for victory in blitzball for her. With that, Adora made her way towards the stadium.

* * *

After running for what felt like ages, Adora stopped to catch her breath. She still had a way to go to reach the stadium, but she was certain she'd arrive on time.

Adora looked around. The nearby buildings had lights shining brightly. The roads were packed with all sorts of people chattering away about the game. Zanarkand truly was a beautiful city. Then, Adora looked up at a billboard. The image of her stepmother with her usual stern glare and arms crossed loomed large above her.

For the past few weeks, Adora did her best to ignore anything and everything with her face on it. Regardless of that, she chose to stare at the display for a little while. Adora grumbled under her breath and proceeded to jog towards her destination.

At the same time Adora was heading for the stadium, the town's local radio show was playing as loud as ever over the intercoms. The gruff, yet silvery voice of the host could be heard recounting a story the town had heard many times.

_I was in a coffee shop, running away from home when I heard the news. Our hero, Shadow Weaver, gone. Vanished into thin air!_

Adora would always roll her eyes at this point. Unlike the people of Zanarkand, she was more than used to Shadow Weaver's habit of disappearing without a word. She had gotten accustomed to the point that it took months for Adora to accept that she was really gone.

_My dad must have been her biggest fan. I knew how sad he'd be. Heck, we all were that day._

Adora recalled the vigil fans had put together by their house after the news broke. For three consecutive weeks, a different group of people would place flowers and relight the candles surrounding a picture of Shadow Weaver. At times, Adora would think about going over to the vigil after everyone had left to blow out the candles and spit on the bouquets. For whatever reason, she could never find the nerve to follow through on that idea.

_Zanar, I says to myself, “What are you thinking?” I went running straight back home. We sat up talking about Shadow Weaver all night. My dad and I never talked so much. Whoa...didn't mean to reminisce, folks._

For as tired as Adora was listening to Zanar's story, she'd still find herself happy to hear the ending each time. There was something comforting about knowing that Zanar was able to return home and bond with his father.

_Anyway...Ten years later, the Shadow Weaver Memorial Cup tournament is today! The two teams that have won through to the finals are, of course, the Abes from A-East, and the Duggles from C-South._

Adora and the rest of the Abes had trained like never before in preparation for the tournament. They didn't have a choice – all the other teams were guaranteed to put all their efforts into winning first prize at the cup dedicated to one of the best blitzball players in history.

_I know there's a lot of people out there to see the star of the Abes! In just one year, she's become the team's number one player!_

A tiny smile graced Adora's lips. She took pride in being able to rise to the top so quickly. Ever since she was a child, Adora had dreamed of the day she'd make the winning goal in a professional blitzball tournament. Now that she was so close to realizing her oldest wish, Adora felt her heart begin to race. She closed her eyes and visualized different ways she could score the final point.

_She's Shadow Weaver's protege, and the new hope of blitzball! What kind of super play will she show us today? Will we see her mother's legendary shot? I don't think I'm the only one excited here, folks!_

There was one thing Adora was certain of: she did _not_ want her victory to be a part of Shadow Weaver's legacy. She promised herself that no matter what, this game would be the one where everyone would recognize her as a player in her own right.

* * *

With 20 minutes to spare, Adora breathed a sigh of relief once the main entrance to the stadium came into view. At the same time, she saw another mass of people waiting at the steps. By this point, Adora had shook so many hands and signed enough blitzballs that she was mildly concerned her hands would cramp during the game. Passing through the crowd wasn't going to be easy, but she was determined to do it.

Once she was in hearing range, Adora barked, “Make way, make way!” She noticed a few people taking heed and making space for her. The others continued to swarm. She tried again, jogging in place as she announced, “Coming through sorry!” A couple more people listened to her and stepped aside, but she still hadn't made it across. Not wanting to upset the fans while her patience waned, Adora whined, “Hey, I'm gonna be late!” She had almost made her way out as one or two overzealous fans grabbed a hold of her sleeve. Adora managed to escape their grasp as she pled, “Hey, let go of me!” After overcoming this final obstacle, Adora took the time to wave goodbye to the fans. Their cheers echoed down the hall as she walked further into stadium.

* * *

Seconds remained. Adora leaned back into her seat and closed her eyes. With all the commotion going on around her, she needed to keep a cool head. She could not afford any distractions now. When she opened her eyes, the lights turned on and the audience rejoiced as bolts of lightning collided to create the blitzball arena. It was time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll be honest, I can't stop laughing at the thought of Shadow Weaver being this revered sportsball player. It feels so out of character for her, but I love that.


	3. No Better Plan

The man stepped further onto the ledge. He wanted to get a closer look. A cool wind blew through the loose sleeve of his coat. He had waited ten years for this. Behind his shades, he glared intently at the unholy sphere of water rising from the ocean. It was a few miles away, yet it easily towered over any building in Zanarkand. Destiny felt so close one could almost touch it. Perhaps that drew him to stretch his arm towards the entity. It was a simple, but poignant gesture; soon enough, they would be reunited.

* * *

Even though the game had just begun, the tension in the arena was palpable. A Duggle had caught the ball only to be swiftly tackled by an Abe on the offense. Adora swam towards the ball's trajectory and grabbed it. Sensing the Duggle behind her, she threw the ball quickly before they could stop her. While she struggled in their grip, Adora tried to see the outcome of her toss. The Abe that was open received a hard kick in the ribs. The Duggles had intercepted their pass, again.

This frustrated Adora. Although she was familiar with the degree of competition their opponents brought tonight, she was _not_ going to let them make the first goal of the game. Now free to move, Adora set her sights on the Duggle that kicked her teammate. She swam right for them and elbowed them so hard they flew out of the arena. The audience went wild. Adora waited for the pyreflies to mend the gap in the field before swimming back up to join her team.

* * *

Slowly, he walked to the stadium. He stepped on a puddle of water, but the droplets that splashed under his feet did not touch the ground. Instead, they receded into the sky.

Beside him, people were running as fast as they could. Some screamed frantically. A mother held tightly onto her child to shield them from the falling debris. The man kept his careful pace. Above, the dome floated in the air, drawing everything in its vicinity. No building or monument was fortified enough to resist its pull. As it got closer, the surrounding infrastructure began to lose its shape. In an instant, the buildings morphed to become one with the menacing orb.

* * *

A loud buzzer went off. The fans hollered and stood from their seats to applaud. The Abes had successfully scored the first goal of the game. Two Abes clapped their hands together in passing. The celebration was cut short as the team all looked at one another. It was time to put their strategy into motion.

In the middle of the second round, an Abe launched the ball into the air with such force that it broke past the field. The Duggles froze in place – there was nothing they could do now. Adora launched herself upward. Upon bursting through the blitzball arena, she tucked her knees to her chest, crossed her arms over them, and lowered her chin. Adora used her momentum to spin mid air. Just before the ball got within range, she extended her legs and stretched out her arms. The ball was now close enough for Adora to strike it. The time had come. Everyone waited for Adora to finish the Light Spinner Shot. They waited for her to earn her place as the best blitzball player in the league, as her mother once had been.

Before Adora could make her shot, she saw something that left her numb. In the distance, an unspeakably enormous mass of water hovered over a ruined borough. From the mass, a volley of flames shot out. All at once, every building Adora could see shattered. Statues, bridges – everything the flames touched broke apart.

Adora awoke from her shock just in time to grab hold of a ledge. Beneath her, the crowd had descended into chaos as people rushed to the exits. The stadium had been struck multiple times; the walls weren't going to last much longer. Adora had almost managed to get a solid grip on the ledge until another blow shook her off. Her screams echoed loudly as she fell.

* * *

Adora was still holding her head by the time she reached the entrance. Fortunately for her, the remnants of the blitzball arena had slightly cushioned her fall. It still hurt, but she survived. Adora leaned against a piece of rubble and paused briefly to regain her composure. She looked behind her– there were still a few people running out of the wreckage. Adora turned and gasped when she spotted an older man in a red coat. He wore dark glasses and hid his face behind an oversized collar. He rested his left arm inside his coat and wore an armored glove sparsely adorned with small orange gems on his right arm.

“Micah!”, she called, “what are you doing here?”

The man stared ahead and calmly answered, “I was waiting for you.”

Adora was utterly bewildered by his response. She figured he would have had enough sense to search for a place to hide. “What are you talking about?” she barked at him.

Ever the forthcoming person, Micah walked off. Adora grunted and hobbled after him.

* * *

It surprised Adora that with all of her training, she had to run to keep up with Micah's gait. Although she resented it, Adora's body was still aching from falling off the roof of the stadium. She slowed down to a stop to recover momentarily. Seeing everyone around her attempting to flee made her heart sink to her stomach. Adora had never felt so terrified and confused. She would have given anything to return to the world she knew only hours ago. When her greatest conflict was preparing to win a match in a blitzball tournament.

In the blink of an eye, everything stopped. People were stuck mid-stride. Birds hung in the air as they prepared to flap their wings. Adora's eyes darted around as her astonishment swelled. She paused once she saw a child emerge from nothing and walk up to her. It was the same winged child she met outside her house earlier that evening.

“It begins,” said the ephemeral child in the same tone that conveyed a sense of predetermination. Adora's browed furrowed as the child teased, “Don't cry.”

Immediately, Adora was thrust back into the present. People were rushing past her again. It took some time for her to gain her bearings. She noticed Micah walking in the direction of the orb. Adora jogged cautiously to him. “Not this way!” she shouted, pointing her index finger down the route everyone else was going.

Micah gazed up at the sphere. In a somber tone, he ordered, “Look.”

Adora followed his eyes to the monstrous globe. She had been trying to avoid eye contact with it since she first saw it. The sight of the sphere levitating above its destruction made Adora's knees buckle.

The sound of Micah's voice roused Adora out of her stupor. “We called it Sin.”

“Sin?” Adora asked. The revelation that Micah was familiar with this being gave Adora both a mild sense of relief and bemusement. If this wasn't his first encounter with Sin, then perhaps they would be alright.

Adora continued to stare at Sin. Without warning, a sharp pillar covered in glowing scales shot out from the globe and smashed into a nearby building. The scales sprung off the pillar and down to the bridge Adora and Micah stood on. Three of the scales before them flickered and unraveled as the insect-like creatures came to life. The ends of their wings were enveloped in sharp spikes. In lieu of any facial features, these monsters had several arrays of equally sharp teeth.

With little thought, Adora flailed her arms in front of the fiends as if to bat them away. One of them inched toward her. Adora stepped backwards too quickly and tripped.

The fall served as a cruel reminder of her previous injuries. As Adora winced in pain, Micah withdrew something from his sash and held it out to her. “Take it,” he murmured.

Adora glanced at what was in Micah's hand. It was a long, pristine sword. The hilt was golden and the crossguard's shape resembled the petals of a flower. At the center of the chappe was an orange gemstone similar to the ones on Micah's glove.

“A gift from Shadow Weaver,” Micah explained.

“My mom?!” Adora exclaimed as she took the sword carefully. Shadow Weaver was never one to gift anything to her. Adora found the idea of ever inheriting something from her to be unheard of. As she stood up, she tried raising the sword to the sky with one arm. Its weight became too much, and Adora stumbled, almost dropping the sword on the ground.

As if to add insult to her embarrassment, Micah whispered, “I hope you know how to use it.”

Once Adora steadied herself, she took a deep breath. If she was going to survive, she had to remain calm. She took one more deep breath, tightened her grip on the sword, and focused on the monsters in front of her.

Suddenly, the gemstone from the blade began to turn blue and shine while pyreflies gathered around her. Adora felt a surge of strength arise from within her. She looked down to see that the magic of the pyreflies had enhanced her muscles. Moreover, the shorts she wore as part of her uniform for the Abes transformed into tight pants. Her shoes were replaced with knee-high boots covered by armor. The sleeve of the glove she wore on her left hand extended to her bicep. Her blue shoulder pad became a crested pauldron. Lastly, her hair grew from its regular length to being well past her waist. Before the crisis, this transformation would have scared Adora. Instead, she opted to spare the confusion for another time.

Seeing Adora come into her own, Micah spoke. “These ones don't matter, we cut through.” Adora nodded. The two quickly dispensed of the Sinscales and went ahead. As a few more of the scales descended from the sky, Micah reiterated, “Cut the ones that matter and run.” They repeated their strategy of only striking down the monsters directly in their path. As Micah and Adora continued to run, more scales rained behind them.

The two halted when they felt the ground beneath them shake. Up ahead, another pillar of Sinscales struck the bridge. A small handful of scales flew off the tower to block their path. As Micah and Adora approached, a clear ring emitting black and purple light enveloped them. The ring burst, and they both grimaced. Irritated, Adora stared angrily at the fiends and demanded, “Get out of my town!”

Using his free hand to readjust his glasses, Micah remarked, “Some can't wait to die!” He then took a step back, holding out his right palm out on one side. Carefully, the sorcerer channeled a spiral of fire from his open palm. After whispering a chant under his breath, Micah clenched his hand into a fist, drew back, and bashed the air in front of him with an uppercut. Quickly, the spirals of fire dispersed, reducing all of the scales in their way to ash. The tower had lost a few of its glowing tendrils, but was still standing. Micah turned to look at Adora expectantly.

Unsure of what Micah was silently inquiring of her, Adora went ahead and slashed at the tower to impede its regeneration. The source of the scales retaliated with another ring of black lightning. As Adora recoiled from the damage, she looked down to see the stone from her sword was flashing. She thought about Micah's devastating attack, and decided to see if she could siphon a similar kind of power from the stone. Adora closed her eyes and envisioned the energy flowing through her. Once she was ready, Adora opened her eyes. They now radiated a bright blue. Adora ran and flipped forward with purpose until she was inches from the tower. She held her sword high and brought it down forcefully. With that, the tower's final tendrils dissipated. Their path was clear. The duo did not hesitate to run as more scales fell from the sky.

* * *

While Adora was running, her eyes wandered. She saw another billboard with the same image of Shadow Weaver as before. “What are _you_ laughing at, old hag?” she scoffed. Adora turned to Micah and suggested, “Let's get out of here!”

Micah gravely rebutted, “We're expected.”

Adora's brows scrunched as she uttered, “Huh?!”. Here patience wore thin as Micah ran off ahead of her. “Give me a break, man!” she sighed exasperatedly.

When she finally caught up to him, Adora was prepared to give him a piece of her mind. She stopped, however, once she realized they were completely surrounded by Sinscales. They appeared to have been swarmed in the midst of their escape from the previous encounter. In a hurry, Adora swung at one of the creatures and missed. Her brashness was rewarded with a bite from another scale. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the wings on one of the scales began flickering.

With each fiend she took down, another would be ready to take its place. Adora was worried they would not be able to make their way out. She peered over to Micah, who had just struck down another scale.

“This could be bad,” he admitted as the wings of other Sinscales flickered in rapid succession. He laid his eyes on a tanker that was hanging of the side of the bridge by a loose cable. There was a faint gleam in Micah's eyes as he asserted to Adora, “That! Knock it down!”

“WHAT?!” Adora shrieked. In an instant, Adora started to reconsider all the trust she had invested in Micah's leadership up to this point.

“Trust me,” Micah insisted. “You'll see.”

With little recourse if she refused, Adora dodged a set of spikes from one of the scales and headed for the tanker. While she attacked the cables, Micah shot balls of fire at any scales that moved.

Adora slashed the final wire, and the tanker fell to the ground languidly. She heard a thunderous boom as the tank exploded. The bridge wobbled. What alarmed Adora, though, was that the building with Shadow Weaver's image was now about to fall on top of her. She scurried out of the way just in time. Micah's plan of using the tanker to eliminate the horde of Sinscales worked, but now they were met with a burning path that was descending rapidly. Adora hesitated, unsure of what to do next.

Micah focused on Adora until she did the same. Solemnly he told her, “Go,” while subtly pointing his head at the crumbling passage.

Adora quietly acquiesced, pacing back a few steps to give herself a good running start. Together, they sprinted across the fiery rubble. Adora narrowly dodged a few spontaneous explosions. Taking note of the gap between the edge of the building and the other side of the bridge, Adora crouched to her knees. She then leaped seconds before another blast erupted from where she stood.

Again, Adora found herself clinging onto a ledge. She struggled to lift herself. The power she felt coursing through her before was gone. Her body and clothes changed back to what it was before. The sword's gem returned to its orange hue. A small gathering of pyreflies circled around the sword as it transformed into a gauntlet around her right arm. She could see Micah standing over her. They were now right below Sin's core. “Micah!” Adora cried as she scrambled to hold on. “Micah!”

Micah did not move. This man, who had watched over Adora ever since Shadow Weaver disappeared, looked at her thoughtfully. For a moment, he raised his head to speak into the core. “You are sure?” he inquired. As if he had received an answer, Micah's lowered his head to observe Adora. Her arms were grasping at the surface of the bridge. Micah reached down and grabbed Adora by the collar. In spite of all the battles they had fought, he still had enough strength to lift her body just above his head. “This is it,” he affirmed when Adora was at eye level. She could hardly keep her eyes open, the stark light from Sin's core overwhelmed her. “This is your story,” Micah added, “It all begins here.”

With just inches separating the two from Sin, Adora's eyes widened as she saw Micah's body become distorted into several beams of light. When she could no longer feel his grip on her collar, Adora felt the petrifying fear from the start of this nightmare return. She had nowhere else to go. Adora screamed like never before as soon as she recognized that her skin was tingling. The light's radiance was relentless. When Adora could no longer resist, she shrieked as she felt the rays pull her in multiple directions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the most I think I've ever written for one chapter. Trying out to write so many things for the first time. I had a lot of fun working on this chapter! I don't plan on including every single enemy encounter - just any plot relevant ones. 
> 
> For anyone wondering, I wanted to keep a She-Ra esque transformation in this fic, so I decided to incorporate the dresspheres from X-2 (my first and fave FF game, tbh). My headcanon is that some people (like Adora) undergo big transformations when they use dresspheres while others (i.e. Micah, jobs that don't use as much magic) don't really change much. The factors that determine who transforms and who doesn't is a secret known only to the pyreflies as far as I'm concerned.
> 
> I hope you've enjoyed reading this fic so far! I'm going to try updating this on a weekly basis.


	4. A Dream of Loneliness

To her surprise, being consumed by Sin's light wasn't as painful as Adora feared. Instead, she felt an uncanny sense of weightlessness. There was complete silence accompanying the emptiness of this space. This new environment unnerved her – with all that could be said about what happened in Zanarkand, at least she could feel like she _existed_. Here, Adora couldn't sense any part of her body. It was as though she was nothing more than her own consciousness. Moreover, there was no one else Adora could talk to. She was alone in an endless realm of light.

Then, she heard a familiar voice call out to her. “Adora...”. Although she couldn't observe any distance here, the sound of the voice was too far for her to recognize. The feeling of relief immediately turned into disbelief when the voice shouted, “Adora!”

“S-shadow Weaver?!” she whispered to herself. At once, Adora could feel her heartbeat racing. She opened her eyes, anxious to know why she was hearing the sound of her mother. The answers she could come up with ran through her mind at an alarming speed. This burst of curiosity was interrupted when Adora realized where she was.

She had returned to Zanarkand. At least, the buildings and roads beneath her mirrored those of her hometown. Oddly enough, there was no evidence the city had been attacked, let alone annihilated. Unlike her home, however, this version of Zanarkand was entirely submerged. It became clear to her that she was having a dream. 

As Adora examined the city, she saw a strange formation in the place where Sin had been during the assault. An assortment of rocks of varying sizes twirled around in the shape of the Abes' logo. Despite being underwater, the rocks were burning. Unsure of what to make of the arrangement, Adora swam downward. She scanned the streets carefully in an effort to find someone, anyone else. Although the city appeared as lively as it typically was Adora could not locate a single person. The disembodied voice of Shadow Weaver was no longer yelling at her, either. The dread of being by herself began to creep on Adora's mind once more.

An unusual sight caused Adora to stop for a moment. Her eyes narrowed and she swam closer. As she approached her point of interest, a flurry of new questions crossed her mind. Adora was looking at herself as a child. Her younger self didn't seem to notice her. Adora recognized the melancholy in her younger self's eyes. She recalled the nights when she'd sneak away from Micah to wander the streets aimlessly. The city felt so massive then; there were times Adora was almost certain she'd find Shadow Weaver if she just turned around the right corner...

Adora reflected on her decision to follow Micah, on his last words. She couldn't fathom what he had in mind running up to Sin. He told her that this was the beginning, but what did Adora have to look forward to now? When she would wake up, Zanarkand would be gone. What would she do? Where could she go? Who would be beside her to help her answer these questions? Or, would she have to carve out a new life all on her own?

She only had a few seconds to consider these thoughts before a sense of light-headedness came over her. Her eyelids became progressively heavier until they finally closed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was considering having this be a part of the next chapter, but I also didn't want to have two long chapters back-to-back. Part me wants to upload Chapter 5, too- I can't wait to introduce the other characters! I don't know if I'll have it ready by tonight, though.
> 
> Hope you've enjoyed reading so far. Thank you!


	5. No Hope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A good day for Adora - she goes for a nice swim, yucks it up with the wildlife, and runs into some friendly locals.
> 
> (Mild (?) content warning: fantasy violence)

A harsh clap of thunder roused Adora from her dream. Her first instinct was to inspect her surroundings. The sky was dull and covered in storm clouds. In the distance, a bolt of lightning hit the ground. When she looked down, she saw that she was resting on the remnants of a pillar. Everywhere she turned, buildings and sculptures were either completely or partially submersed in water that extended for miles. To her misfortune, the only company she had was a peculiar looking bird preening its feathers on a neighboring rock.

Wearily, Adora asked, “Anybody there?” The only response she received was the echo of her voice. Adora tried again. “Micah!” she yelled. Same as before; there was no answer. While there were no signs of people in her vicinity, the fog was dense. Adora figured that if there were others beyond her line of sight that one more call was worth the try.

Adora inhaled as hard as she could and screamed, “Heeey!” at the top of her lungs. Her feathered companion could no longer tolerate her cries. The bird rose to its feet, spread its wings and flew away from her. Curious, she turned over to trace the bird's path. It appeared to fly to the top of a temple. Feeling that she spent enough time waiting, Adora carefully slid off the rock to swim for her next destination.

A blinking light from a nearby wall caught her eye. She stepped out of the water to examine the source up close. The light was emanating from a blue stone embedded within the wall. Her eyes lit up when she noticed the stone was projecting some text. “What do we have here?” she wondered. If the text was in First Ones, this would be quick to translate. After all, Micah essentially drilled the alphabet into her mind on weekends with arduous reading and writing lessons.

Sadly, the words were written in a language utterly unrecognizable to her. While there was one word she could identify (though not written in First Ones), it held no significance to her:

_Eh dra myht frana pumdc uv mekrd emmisehyda dra pmylgacd hekrd. Fedr_ _**Macalania** _ _pareht dra vuindr bemmyn oui cekrd muug hud uh dra mavd pid uh dra nekrd._

After a minute of squinting at the projection, Adora shrugged her head and relented. “Nope, can't read it,” she sighed.

Before dipping back into the water, she scoped the perimeter of the platform. She found a wooden treasure chest in abnormally good condition. Her inquisitive nature getting the better of her, Adora opened the chest. Interestingly enough, the box was unlocked. Upon lifting the lid, she discovered a modest pile of newly minted coins. Excited by this find, Adora opened the pouch on her belt and reached for a piece of gil. At the same time, she picked up one of the coins from the chest. Her eyes narrowed as she thoroughly scrutinized the two coins. Although both pieces felt similar in weight and material, the one from the chest had different markings etched onto it. Her coin had a blank face on one side and the Zanarkand blitzball dome on the opposite side. Meanwhile, the newer coin was imprinted with the profile of a person sporting a fluffy wave of hair on the front and a foreign symbol on the back.

For a moment, Adora considered whether or not to take a few of the newer coins for herself. Her conscience warned her of the chest's original owner returning to collect the monies. However, given the chest's current location, she supposed the odds of that happening were low at best. Beyond that, were she to stumble upon people it may be beneficial to have something to bargain with. She couldn't trust that her hometown's currency would be useful to a stranger. With that, Adora stashed a small amount of the gil into her pouch and moved on.

Adora interrupted her journey towards the temple a second time when she eyed a chest at the center of another platform. This box was more weather beaten than the previous one. The lid practically broke off the hinges when she raised it. Inside was a small, sealed bottle of healing potion and a worn page. Immediately, she snatched the bottle. At first, Adora was fully intent on tossing the sheet into the water. Upon further review, though, she realized the print was still legible. Skimming the page from top to bottom, she gathered that this was the foreword to a primer on the language from the blue stone. Adora folded the paper neatly and tucked it into her pouch to study later.

Finally, she had made it to the stairway near the entrance to the temple. At the top of the steps, a traveller's sphere was bolted to the ground. Adora rejoiced at the sight; a mere touch of its surface would alleviate her fatigue instantly. Even though most people in Zanarkand were aware of the sphere's healing capabilities, it was more often used for journaling and distributing news. In the past, Adora had little to no interest in recording her thoughts in these orbs. She would often wonder if saving an entry would render a person's words open to the public. Adora stroked her chin contemplatively when an idea flashed across her mind – she could use distinct journal entries on each sphere to keep track of where she'd been. With a small, triumphant nod she wrote a short message and headed for a narrow bridge.

Halfway across, Adora stopped walking. There was movement underwater causing the bridge to sway from side to side. Before she could choose to retreat or continue forward, the ground beneath her collapsed. The sudden crash back into the water startled her; she scrambled to reach the surface. She swung her head vigorously in hopes of finding the source of her fall. That was when a trio of tall green fish with oversized crests and fins leaped out of the water. One of the creatures' tailfins brushed her shoulder, creating a small tear in her vest.

As a child, Adora heard rumors of fiends that preyed on people who swam too far from the shore. Sensing the danger in sitting still, she dove headfirst into the water. The fish followed swiftly behind her, but the head start gave her some time to plan her next move. Looking at her arms, she caught sight of the stone in her new gauntlet flashing. Adora looked straight ahead, centering her thoughts on the sense of power she had when she transformed before. Without any delay, a sparkle of pyreflies enveloped her arm as her weapon took shape and her body changed. Her confidence restored, Adora spun around to face her opponents.

Her metamorphosis apparently stunned the fiends. She seized the opportunity by slicing the one on her left across its abdomen. Adora strove to dodge an oncoming bite. Unfortunately, the fish closest to her was able to slash her right leg. Its partner, on the other hand, missed her entirely. Itching for revenge, Adora lunged forward and severed the head of the fish that cut her.

With only one left, Adora stopped briefly. Her muscles tensed when she heard a heavy boom coming from behind a wall. The noise became louder with each second. There was no time for her to react once the wall cracked and an enormous sea creature passed through. Its fins were curved like the blade of a scythe. The scaly coils sprouting from its head were adorned with bioluminescent ends. At the ends of its spine, an array of tentacles expanded and contracted. Its mouth lay agape with sharp, prominent teeth on the corners. What intimidated Adora the most was its ribcage. Completely exposed, she could see the creature was more than capable of ingesting animals her size if not larger.

She watched in horror as the giant fish nonchalantly consumed the lesser one and discarded the remains. Adora hoped she wasn't noticed. That expectation quickly dissipated when it turned back to face her. With great hesitation, she tightened the grip on her sword.

From the first strike, Adora knew this was a fruitless endeavor. The sword couldn't even leave a mark. In return, the beast glided forward and thrust one of its fins at her. For a being so large, the speed with which it moved was terrifying. She was unable to dodge its initial blow. The pain from the impact was excruciating; the injuries she earned during blitzball games and practice paled in comparison.

In spite of how the fight was beginning, Adora believed that a few more blows could hinder the fiend enough to allow her to escape. She scratched one of its fins a few more times, receiving two agonizing jabs in the process. As the fish prepared to charge at her, she took note of a subtle lethargy in its movement. Unlike the lesser fiend, Adora evaded the giant's deadly attack. From a safe distance, she watched it crash into a wall. The force of the collision caused a pile of rocks to fall on the creature's back.

In a hurry, Adora swam to the surface to search for an exit. A brief glance at her opponent made the hairs on the back of her neck stand; the beast had shook off the last of the rubble. With time running short, she jerked head in several directions. The second she found a door she swooped down. The monster caught up to her promptly. With only inches between them, Adora detected a pull from behind as the creature sucked water into its mouth. She used the last of her strength to resist the drawback and hurl herself through to safety.

Landing on her face wasn't what she had in mind, but it felt better than nearly being eaten alive. She rolled over and stared at the heap of debris that had fallen over the entrance. Adora was able to cheat death once; she doubted her future chances of success. As she sluggishly limped to a flight of stairs, Adora asked herself if she could accept the likelihood of meeting her end in these ruins.

The stairs led her into a hall with a stone effigy of a feline warrior at the far end. Now that the storm was closer, the sound of thunder echoed violently. A crack in the wall of a higher floor created small waterfalls. Adora sought to lean on the piece of a broken column for support, but her weight pushed the stone away. She held herself tightly when a draft of wind breezed through her clothes. Through gritted teeth, she muttered, “C-cold...need...fire”.

When she raised her head to survey the hall, Adora was grateful to have sighted another traveller's sphere as well as traces of a campfire. With some tinder and kindling, she could easily light another one. The first thing she did was shuffle to the sphere for a fast recovery. Rejuvenated by the orb's magic, she went about searching among the adjoining rooms. The first room she explored had some tinder hidden in a treasure chest. In a room on the second floor, Adora took some withered flowers from a vase.

She only needed to smack the tinder together a few times for a small flame to begin crackling. Still exhausted by her encounter with the sea monster, Adora fell back and tried to relax. While she gazed at the high ceiling, an obnoxiously loud gurgle erupted from her stomach. Throughout this entire ordeal, she hadn't considered how much time passed since her last meal. For all the uses a traveller's sphere had, it was not designed to provide sustenance. Frustrated, Adora shut her eyes and wailed, “I need food!” Knowing there was no immediate solution to this problem, she opted to lull herself to sleep.

Angry at no one but herself, all she wanted to do was forget about tonight's game. Her hubris cost the Abes their only shot at bringing their score against the Crimsons to a tie. From then on, the game was a lost cause. The Abes were eliminated in the semifinals, and it was her fault. This day had been going poorly since it began, and only seemed to worsen by the hour.

Adora was in no mood to entertain company; she groaned when she heard the familiar knock the old man used to announce his presence. Adora turned her back as he opened the door. “What do _you_ want?!” she sneered.

She could hear the disappointment in his voice. “It was a bad call. Your team lost because of you.”

Predictable as his answer was, Adora's ego was still wounded. To save face, she turned to confront Micah and retorted, “You came to say _that?”_

He stepped forward. His pause signaled to her that the sorcerer was thoughtfully choosing his next words. “It's been...ten years.”

His reply floored her. Of every awful topic he could have introduced, Micah singled out the worst one of all. Adora was speechless. She detected a rare tinge of concern in his tone as he continued, “I thought you'd be crying.”

Had Micah come to check on her earlier that day, Adora would have been mortified. Refusing to accept his offer to discuss the anniversary of her abandonment, she scoffed. “Who, me?” Yet, with all the posturing she did for others, a voice deep from within acknowledged the truth.

“ _You cried.”_

Before dozing off, Adora resituated herself closer to the fire. She sat with her knees to her chest. At this point, Adora was only half-conscious. The fire had been shrinking for some time. An unsuspected rumbling of rocks took her out of her haze. She scoured the hall with her eyes for warnings. When Adora realized the fire had almost whittled down completely, she lost her nerve. Crawling to the flame, she begged, “Hey, wait! Wait! Don't go out on me!”

Fraught with worry, Adora rushed to her feet. “J-just hold on. I'll get more wood!” she promised the dying embers. The instant she took her first step, lightning struck. Looking back, Adora came face-to-face with the source of the noise that disturbed her. A brown, slender fiend with piercing red eyes, a long tail, and pointed spears for arms and legs glared at her from the second floor guardrails. The beast circled around her once then leaped to the floor, emitting a ghastly roar. It took a lot of energy for Adora to draw her sword; the dreariness and hunger prohibited her from accessing her stronger form. Exasperatedly, she lamented, “Give me a break...”

If there was a silver lining to this battle, at least the monster's attacks were weaker than the previous one's. Even so, the creature was too fast for her to outpace. She swapped a few cuts with the fiend. The downside was that the damage she sustained was wearing her down much more quickly. The beast was also ruthless in its pursuit, denying her any time to use a potion.

Without warning, the door to her right exploded. She used her armored glove to shield her eyes from the shrapnel. After the smoke subsided, a group of four people holding firearms, dressed in outlandish clothes, barged in. Adora gawked at them apprehensively. Every member of the crew wore goggles over their face. Their outfits lacked uniformity; Adora noted an albeit vague resemblance to the work clothes mechanics wore in Zanarkand.

The strangers hastily raised their weapons, presumably at the beast she was fighting. Again, a bolt of lightning flashed. Another person entered the room, standing in front of the others. Adora couldn't believe it was possible, but this person's armor was even more distinctive. The newcomer's goggles were attached to a clear helmet plated in red metal. The helmet was matched with a cropped jacket donned over a red and yellow jumpsuit. In addition to a green belt, they had green straps wrapped across their chest and legs. The straps on the chest formed a small heart that Adora found somewhat endearing. The most unusual part of their outfit, in her opinion, were the semi-bell shaped, bulky sleeves that went up to their elbows.

The leader of the group walked to a spot next to Adora, cracking their wrists. Standing at her side, they stomped their right foot and made a taunting gesture at the beast.

Adora smiled at her new comrade. “You on my side?” she beamed. “Cool!”

The newcomer was the first to attack. They performed an underhanded thrust at their foe with one arm. Adora was shocked when a bolt shot out from a hidden compartment in their sleeve. The bolt shattered on impact, inflicting heavy damage on the monster. In the time it recovered, Adora used the potion to regain her energy. Her partner's next move startled her; they briskly jumped within range of the creature, snatched something off of them, then bounced back. Adora was so perplexed by their actions she didn't realize the beast was aiming for her. It knocked her free arm; Adora caught herself as she almost keeled over from the pain.

In the meantime, the stranger lobbed another bolt at the monster. Adora made use of the stun to slash its back. This cycle of paralyzing the fiend and hacking at it seemed to work. Together, Adora and the stranger weakened the monster at a faster rate than when Adora was fighting it on her own. In a matter of minutes, Adora delivered the final attack.

Once the fiend vanished, Adora met the eyes of her partner. They removed the clear shield from their helmet. Returning her stare, they tilted their head slightly.

She knelt while catching her breath, exulting, “Whew! That was close.” As the others closed in on her, she continued, “Wow, am I glad _you_ showed up.”

Without explanation, one of the crew members standing behind her yanked her up by her ponytail.

Confused, Adora thrashed around. “Hey, let me go!”

All at once, they aimed their guns in her face. She stopped moving and kept quiet.

One of the two in front of her shouted, “ _Fryd ec drec_?”

A person behind her added, “ _Y_ **fiend** _!_ _Eh risyh teckieca!_ ”

She could hear the person holding her upright exclaim, “ _Oac! Ed ec cu!_ ”

One of her captors got behind her, pulled out a large knife, held it against her neck, and inquired of her battle partner, “ _Fa gemm ed?_ ”

Adora thought she heard hesitation in the leader's voice. “ _Fyed! Fryd ey ed ec risyh?_ ”

She felt momentary relief when the one with the blade on her throat twirled it to point at their leader. “ _Drao yna dra cysa eh taydr_.”

After a brief silence, they responded, “ _E vunpet ed! Fa pnehk ed fedr ic_.”

Adora was utterly lost; she could not follow the conversation whatsoever. She could tell the topic was about a fiend, but that made their actions more bewildering. They had just slain the fiend together; it was gone now. What reason would they have to hold her at gunpoint? Set on uncovering the mystery, Adora's mind wandered to the gil she pilfered from the chest. Had they been following her since then? Were they upset at having to rescue her from a fiend to get their money back?

Adora saw the leader advance to her. The last thing she heard was a quiet, “ _Cunno_.” Then, she felt a sharp pang in her stomach. Overwhelmed by the punch, Adora fell forward, her vision blurring as she fainted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was worried this chapter was going to be too long; turned out to only be a few more words than Chapter 3. Yay! 
> 
> Also yay - new characters (sort of)! I feel like one's more obvious than the other (deliberately so). I'm really looking forward to writing the next chapter cuz it means I get to write out of one my favorite scenes. 
> 
> I keep wanting to integrate elements of SPOP lore into this fic; I don't know how far I can go with that. Another thing - I was reading someone's live tweet of the game and (minor spoilers) there's a Jecht sphere that shows Braska using a save sphere in-universe??? I didn't remember that, but it inspired me to write about it in this chapter.
> 
> I'm going to try leaving the Al Bhed dialogue untranslated. In case you don't know, the Al Bhed are a clan of people in FFX who have their own language. From what I've heard, it's a simple cipher, but I'll share the URL to a translator if you'd like to translate those parts: https://stephenw32768.appspot.com/albhed/
> 
> Thank you for reading! Hope you enjoyed this chapter.


	6. The Cost of Survival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adora meets the crew's captain, overcomes the language barrier and lands her first job! 
> 
> (CW just in case: physical assault)

“ _...Yht cu drec uha rana untanat ic du pnehk dra_ **fiend** _uh puynt! Ymeja!!!_ ” one of the crew members shouted.

The young scout tried fruitlessly to refute the others' claims.“ _D-drao'na hud-”_

Another shipmate interjected _“Fa haat du gemm ed huf pavuna ed gemmc ic! Ruf lyh fa gaab aqbmunehk fedr y suhcdan uh uin creb?!?!”_

The incessant bickering escalated until the captain slammed their fist against the table. “ _Ahuikr ynkiehk! E lyh'd drehg fedr ymm drec hueca!_ ”

A heavy silence filled the room. The crew passed glances at one another, then back at the captain. Although their eyes were obscured by goggles, everyone knew the captain was staring at the newest recruit. The one trusted to lead this expedition. “ _Oui! Ku kad Cbayn'c kmyccac yht lusa fedr sa._ ”

As the two climbed the stairs, the scout meekly asked, “ _Fryd'c ouin bmyh?_ ”

The captain looked straight ahead.“ _Drec ec cdemm ouin secceuh. So bmyh ec du ramb oui caa drec drnuikr._ ”

* * *

When Adora awoke, the night sky was clear and full of stars. The air was cool. Her face was to the ground. From her position, she took in her peripheral. She was on the deck of a ship. They were anchored in the middle of an ocean; above her, searchlights bounced from one direction to the next.

Slowly, she rolled over to the other side. Two of the armed strangers from before were on watch. Both of them had their backs to her, still holding their guns. Adora pored over the area some more. The entrance to the bridge of the ship was not too far. Tucked away in one corner, she could see a functioning traveller's sphere crudely bolted to the deck. She laid one hand on her stomach. The pain was gone. Having had enough of letting the metal grating dig deep into her cheek, she cautiously stood up.

The guard on her left was alerted. At breakneck speed, they turned on their heel and pushed her down with the butt of their gun. “ _Ced, lybdeja!_ ”

Unprepared for the force of the push, Adora fell back to the ground. She pouted while massaging her shoulder. “Hey, that hurts!” she whined. She knew they couldn't understand her, but snapping at her kidnappers felt cathartic.

Following the other guard's lead, the one on her right aimed their gun at her. Adora recognized them as the one who held a knife to her throat. Aggressively, they warned, “ _Hu sujehk, rayn_?”

Not interested in agitating them further, Adora remained seated and quietly muttered, “...Okay.” Then, she heard a beeping sound;the door was opening. Both guards put down their weapons and shifted their attention to the new arrivals, bowing slightly.

The first person to emerge was an imposing figure. They were tall, easily towering over the two lookouts. While most of their hair was shaved, it was styled in a short mohawk; the intensely pink hue caught Adora's eyes. They wore several piercings on their right ear; similar to the others, their eyes were covered by goggles. Keeping in line with the lack of a uniform, this person was clad in a grey jumpsuit accented in blue flames. Their suit was held together with red and blue straps. The sleeves were pulled up to the elbows, revealing thin, mechanical arms and hands. Their hands were covered by black, studded gloves with red wristbands. Adora had no doubt this was the captain of the ship.

She frowned once she realized the person who knocked her unconscious was walking alongside them. Their face was blank. Adora wondered what their role was in this situation.

The leader stopped in front of her. With a flick of a wrist, they shouted, “ _Caylnr res_!”

Adora's assailant silently complied, gently holding her left arm as they helped her up. She felt the slightest tap on her arms and legs as they patted her down. The gil in her pouch was passed over to one of the guards.

What transpired next left Adora downright speechless. The compelling aura of the leader diminished rapidly as they proceeded to make obscure signals and deep, guttural grunts at her. At best, the motions faintly resembled diving. At this point, she was wanting for them to speak to her in their language. The outcome would be the same, but they could at least maintain some modicum of dignity. After a loose approximation of a breaststroke, the leader waited for a response.

Adora simply rolled her eyes and wrly retorted, “Right. Whatever.”

For a moment, the conversation looked to be going in the right direction. The head of the ship refrained from gesturing. While retrieving a pair of goggles, they asked, “ _Tu oui hud cbayg_?” To Adora's disappointment, the notion of an ordinary conversation was promptly eradicated. The leader returned to grumbling while pointing to her, then to the goggles in their hand and on their head. They finished by pointing indiscriminately at the ocean.

Her patience exhausted, Adora shook her head and complained, “I said I don't understand!”

On cue, both of the watchers fixed their guns on her. One roared, “ _Ehcumahla_!”

From behind, Adora heard a familiar phrase. “ _Fyed_!” Neither one retreated their firearms, but the scout continued. Adora's ears perked up when she heard her attacker softly whisper, “She said you can stay if you make yourself useful.”

In shock, Adora looked back and cluelessly asked, “Y-you...You understand me?”

Her question was rewarded with a hard elbow to her back.

Desperate to end the beatings, Adora gave up. “All right, I'll work!” This seemed to placate her keepers. The leader made a small motion and moved back; the guards followed suit. The scout finally let go her arm.

Adora made a beeline for the sphere. She didn't want to run the risk of her muscles cramping while exploring.

While her body was healing, the captain hollered at her. “ _Suja ed! Kad du fung, essateydamo_!”

One of the guards mockingly added, “ _Oui yvnyet uv dra cay? Faygmehk!_ ”

Adora paid no mind to their words. On her way back, the other guard held out some healing potions to her. “ _Ev oui'na hayn taydr, naymmo hayn taydr, ica drec!_ ” The gift came as a surprise to Adora, but she wasn't about to question their generosity now. She took the bottles into her bag and walked up to the scout.

“Oh, almost forgot!” they exclaimed, unhooking something from their back. It was Adora's arm guard. Somehow, she hadn't noticed it went missing. She took back the gauntlet and examined it in the moonlight. There weren't any signs of damage. Rather, her gauntlet looked like it had been improved. Before, the only gemstone she could see was the large one that she'd use in battle. Now, there was an intricate grid of smaller stones of varying colors that went around the surface of her armguard.

Adora's attention shifted back to the benevolent thief, who briefed her on the mission. “We found some ancient ruins right beneath us. It's not active now, but there should still be some power left. We're gonna go down there and activate it...and then we should be able to salvage the big prize! “

“Mm-hmm.” Adora mindlessly agreed, still marveling at the additions to her weapon.

Clapping their hands together, the scout gleefully cheered, “Okay! Let's get to work!”

“Roger!” Eager to get going, Adora inched back to give herself a running start. She quickly ran for the guardrails and jumped. Just before diving into the water, she turned back to offer her captors a reassuring wink and thumbs up.

In unison, the crew shook their heads. The scout shrugged their shoulders and went after her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Had a really busy week, so I cut this chapter short. In fact, things IRL are going to be busy for me for a while. The chapters will probably be shorter, but I'll play it by ear. 
> 
> ;_; Originally, I wanted the first scene to be a comedic one. Then I remembered I can't write funny scenes to save my life. On the other hand, I didn't want to spoil the leader's official intro. I don't think I delivered on the humor of that scene, though. 
> 
> I hope you had fun reading this chapter! Thank you for checking this out. 
> 
> Link to the Al Bhed-to-English translator : https://stephenw32768.appspot.com/albhed/
> 
> I'm low-key curious if someone is reading this without translating any of the Al-Bhed text...(fwiw, I never collected all the primers in my playthroughs of X-2).


	7. The Big Prize

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adora and [redacted] have some fun doing IT work underwater. 
> 
> content warnings for this chapter: fantasy violence, animal death

Once underwater, Adora waited patiently for her new acquaintance. Conveniently enough, their path coincided with a nearby anchor point. In the distance, she saw a row of red lights blinking slowly. As they swam downward, the two fought off a few shoals of piranhas. During these spats, the scout would occasionally swipe something from some of the fish. Adora tried to discern what her partner was taking, but they moved too quickly for her to see anything. Just as the entrance to their destination came into view, they were ambushed by a trio of piranhas. In the blink of an eye, Adora’s partner knocked them all down with an uppercut. She was highly impressed by their fighting prowess. Adora held out her hand to offer them a high-five; the scout swam past her to open the door. She chalked up their unresponsiveness to focusing on the mission and followed suit. 

Adora had intuited from the building’s design that they were entering some sort of power plant. The first room they entered was narrow. Along the ceiling, digital monitors lined the walls to their left and right. Adora attempted to read the text crawl on one of the screens. It was no use - the few words she could parse out were incomprehensible jargon about the power plant. Her partner moved ahead towards an orange light at the opposite end of the room. The door in front of them was locked. Beside the door was a computer monitor. The screen had a blue background with white text. The scout tried entering some commands on the keyboard, but the computer screen remained the same. 

Adora waited for them to move aside to have a look. She glared at the screen intensely - it reminded her of the computers she’d use in the libraries in Zanarkand. Somehow, she would always end up with ones that were prone to freezing or crashing. On more than one occasion, she had to firmly smack the side of the computer to unfreeze it. Short on ideas, she slammed her fist on the space that connected the keyboard to the screen. After a few times, they heard a clicking noise. The door opened three quarters of the way before getting stuck. The gap was just wide enough for the two to pass through one at a time. 

The door led to a stairwell with small lights to lead the way. At the top of the stairs was a room at the center of which was a large generator. Halfway across the hall, they were ambushed from behind by a swarm of piranhas. This group was much larger than the ones they previously encountered. The scout dodged their attacks at the last second. Adora was not so lucky - one nipped at her right leg. She managed to raise her arm guard in time to keep one from biting her face. After freeing herself, Adora readied her sword. Given how quickly the previous battles were, Adora decided to save her transformation for later. 

In what felt like an affront to Adora’s sense of logic, the first thing her partner did was steal something from the pirahnas. She couldn’t for the life of her understand their strategy, but now wasn’t the time to ask. Adora swam up and swung at one of the piranhas. She damaged its fin, but the fish was still alive. As if her luck couldn’t get worse, the majority of the fish descended on her. Twice. The bites were small, but very painful. The fact that she was underwater intensified the sting of her wounds. If that wasn’t enough, watching the scout wipe out the entire group with a single bolt certainly was. Before she could nudge them to ask  _ why _ they waited to attack, the scout was already entering the room. Not wanting to be left behind, Adora made a mental note to follow up with them once they returned to the surface. 

The generator was attached to the roof by a dense network of clear and metallic pipes. From the transparent pipes, Adora could see the sluggish movement of a red, luminescent fluid. Adora and her companion circled around the generator in search of a control panel. As it turned out, the generator was controlled by two panels. Given how dim the engine’s lights were, Adora figured the system was in a power-saving mode of sorts. From their panel, the scout succeeded in shutting off the power-saving setting. The engine rumbled, creating a loud churning sound. The fluid in the pipes turned neon green and began moving at a faster pace. Poking their head out from one side, Adora’s partner gave her a thumbs up. It was now her turn. The screen on her panel said something needed to be pulled. On the right side of the key pad was a lever. Adora grabbed the handle and pulled it all the way down. A sudden burst of light overwhelmed her. Moreover, a heavy vibration caused the generator to move to and fro. Opening her eyes slowly, Adora realized the lights that were on the ground had turned on and were now spinning steadily. The scout tapped Adora on her shoulder and pointed at the exit. It seemed their work was done. Adora nodded, relieved to know they would return to the surface soon.

The duo had almost reached the first room when the sound of rushing water drew their attention. Suddenly, an octopus with an oversized shell growing around its head bombarded them. Adora and her partner gave chase, swimming into an adjacent room. While the scout loaded their firearms, Adora raised her sword to summon her stronger self. She landed the first hit, slashing her sword across one of its tentacles. The cut was not deep enough to completely sever the appendage, but the beast recoiled violently. Upon regaining its composure, it hurled a few of its tentacles at Adora. She was surprised by how heavy its blows felt. 

After ensuring sure there was enough distance between them, the scout shot their first bolt. The explosion did remarkable damage against the creature. As if to take advantage of the pause in their attacks, the octopus swam to the far side of the room. Adora thought the creature was going to leave, but then it stopped just outside of their range of attack. Unsure of what to expect, Adora and her partner took a defensive stance. 

Without warning, the octopus charged at them from behind. Shielding themselves with their arms did little to diminish the pain of colliding with the rough exterior of its shell. Adora peeked at her partner. They had received the brunt of the attack and needed more time to recover. While searching for a way to distract the octopus, Adora looked to her sword. The large gemstone shone in the same way it had during one of her battles with Micah. Same as before, Adora closed her eyes to channel her power. It was as if a surge of fire coursed through her body, eager for release. Once she was ready, Adora moved herself in front of the scout. With both hands, she swung the blade across the octopus’ face with all her might. The impact was so severe that the lower half of its shell broke into pieces. 

As she moved back, Adora checked to see how her partner was holding up. The break she had given them was just what they needed. Without wasting any time, they shot another bolt to compound the damage she’d delivered. 

Once more, their enemy swam outside of their attack range. Now that they knew what to anticipate, the two looked at each other. Adora pointed at herself, then at the scout. She then pointed her two index fingers at one another. They nodded their head, pointed at themself, and motioned at the beast’s front. With that, Adora positioned herself behind the octopus. The second they had the octopus in a corner, unable to charge at them simultaneously, the battle became much easier. While Adora kept the beast’s attention on her, the scout fired multiple shots in rapid succession. They moved so quickly, Adora had almost missed the final blow. The creature faded away, reduced to a small bunch of pyreflies. 

* * *

Adora was just about to make a dash for the surface when she felt a small poke on her shoulder. She turned to notice the scout motioning her to wait. Confused by their insistence on staying underwater, she shrugged her shoulders at them in a quizzical fashion. In response, they looked back to the outside of the plant. One after another after another, the old building’s searchlights came to life. The lights moved gingerly across their axis with little trouble. In that moment it was as though the building’s age, and even time itself, felt irrelevant. There was something about witnessing the revival of this abandoned building that left Adora in awe. She watched quietly, taking in the sight.

After a while, the scout delicately tugged at her forearm. They were encouraging her to swim further down with them. At first, she hesitated. After all the fighting they had just done, Adora had her mind set on returning to the deck. However, when she saw that they pointed away from the plant she reconsidered. On their way, Adora noted that the other crew members were swimming to the same area. In addition to that, the searchlights they activated were now focused on one particular spot. 

Suddenly, the scout stopped moving. Adora spun around hastily to see if there were any fiends following them. When she came full-circle, she saw the scout pointing underneath them. When Adora looked down, her eyes widened in disbelief. The path of the lights revealed the prize her captors were after. 

Right below them were the remains of an abandoned airship. The ship was massive. Despite having a portion of the ship obscured by the depths of the ocean, Adora knew that what they found was vastly larger than their current vessel. She kicked her feet idly, marvelling at their discovery.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yayyyyyyy, I finally got back to this fic! I'm celebrating. It feels like it's been forever for me. Drawing for Glimmadora week 2020 really threw me for a loop with my writing schedule. Plus, I got inspired to work on other fics. Now, I'm a clown working on three fics at once. uwu
> 
> I keep telling myself that I'm inching ever closer to Adora and Glimmer's meet-cute in this AU. I'm almost there! Just, two-ish chapters. 
> 
> I've also been itching to reveal [redacted]'s name for like, ever. Part of me feels like it's obvious, but given how much time has passed since the last update I wonder if people have figured it out already. Either way, that'll happen in the next chapter. 
> 
> As always, thank you for reading! Hope you had a good time checking this out. I'd like to do a biweekly update with this fic. That said, this is my first time working on multiple projects at once. I'll see how that goes.


End file.
